French intelligence agency ‘has proof that Syrian government is behind chemical attack that killed 86’

FRENCH spooks have proof that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in a deadly attack on its own people, the foreign minister has revealed.

President Bashar al-Assad has vehemently denied being behind the sarin attack that left 86 dead and hundreds injured.

Assad said the suspected chemical attack was a "fabrication" to justify a US missile strike on Syrian forces and accused President Donald Trump of being "hand in glove" with terrorists.

But the French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has said the country's intelligence agency will provide proof in the "coming days" that Assad's forces used chemical weapons in the April 4 attack.

He told LCP television: "There is an investigation underway (by) the French intelligence services and military intelligence... it's a question of days and we will provide proof that the regime carried out these strikes.

"We have elements that will enable us to show that the regime knowingly used chemical weapons."

Scores of people died after exposure to poison gas in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, in Idlib province, on April 4. Western governments said Syrian government forces had dropped chemical weapons on the town, but Russia denied that, saying the chemical attack had been faked.

The missile strike was the first direct US military action against Assad's forces since the start of Syria's civil war six years ago and precipitated a downward spiral in ties between Washington and Moscow.